Team Rivalry Basics
Game Time: October 7, 2022; 7 PM (TV – FS1)
6th Meeting
Nebraska is perfect in the series at 5-0
Mickey Joseph, Nebraska’s new interim coach is 1-1 on the season
Cliff
We’ve got two teams fighting for survival at this point. If Nebraska wins this game, they will be tied for the most wins in the West with whoever wins the Iowa/Illinois game. Which means Nebraska actually still has a chance to win the West division now that Minnesota has a loss and Wisconsin has two losses.
On the stats, these teams actually look pretty evenly matched.
You have to give the momentum to Nebraska; they’re coming off a win against Indiana and Rutgers is coming off a thrashing by Ohio State. Coach Joseph was high energy at the press conference and Schiano was even keel. I think that matters because the team responds to the coach’s enthusiasm.
However, Nebraska’s defense might be a little too leaky to stop the Rutgers offense. And the odds makers are giving this game to Rutgers by 3. So, it really comes down to; which team is still hungry for a bowl game? Looking at the schedule it doesn’t get any easier after this game.
Who needs to step up on Nebraska’s defense and who needs to step up on Rutgers offense to keep this game close?
Mac
The entire Nebraska defense needs to step up to keep this game close.
They allowed nearly 100 points against Oklahoma and Georgia Southern. Then the next week, allowed 21 points against an Indiana team ranked 146th in points for. They’ll need to be good against Rutger’s passing attack which will certainly be hoping for a good game from receiver Aron Cruickshank. He’ll probably have a good game considering how bad Nebraska’s passing defense is.
Rutgers also has the advantage in terms of strength of schedule. Yeah, they got blown out by Ohio State and yeah, they turned the ball over against Iowa a lot, but Nebraska’s only quality opponent so far is Oklahoma and even they stumbled last week. So, I think Rutgers is going to be ready for this game.
Cliff’s prediction (via the Team Rivalry Top Secret Score Predictor): Nebraska 24 / Rutgers 31
Mac’s prediction: Nebraska 21 / Rutgers 31